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After describing the situation that led to the national symposium on French anthropology (“Assises de l’ethnologie et de l’anthropologie en France”) in December 2007, the author sketches some of the defining features of social and cultural anthropology in France today. To begin with, he examines the history of the terms used, “ethnologie” and “anthropologie”. He then looks at some of the changing characteristics of social anthropology and the ways it is being practiced, particularly the new trend in “multi-sited” fieldwork. This is linked with a new scope in what social anthropology is supposed to do, a global interpretation of modernity rather than a systematic comparison of empirical, localized data. The paper discusses the present position of anthropology within the social sciences in general and suggests a few main directions for its future development.